Zimem Ledger

Zimem defteri is a system of credit and mutual support rooted in the Islamic civilization’s principles of solidarity and charitable giving, which later matured institutionally and socially within Ottoman society. The term “zimem,” the plural of “zimmet,” refers to debts and was used historically both as a technical term in the accounting records of cash waqfs to denote their loan portfolios and as a social practice describing the ledgers maintained by artisans and shopkeepers for recording credit transactions.

Conceptual and Religious Foundations

The practice of zimem defteri is grounded in Islamic legal regulations concerning debt, charity, and waqf institutions. Principles of mutual aid, sharing, and especially the ethical norm that “the right hand should not know what the left hand gives” shaped its moral framework. Given that the earliest waqf examples date back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad and Caliph Umar, and that the concept of “sadaka-i cariye” (ongoing charity) established a model of perpetual benevolence, the zimem defteri tradition can be viewed as one of the concrete manifestations of this historical continuity during the Ottoman period.

Cash Waqfs and Zimem Records

Cash waqfs, which played a significant role in the Ottoman economic structure, were institutions that managed liquid capital (asl-ı mal) according to specific legal procedures to provide credit to those in need. According to archival records, the first known cash waqf was established in Edirne in 1423; during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the first sultanic cash waqf was founded to meet the financial needs of the Janissary Corps.^【1】

In the accounting ledgers of cash waqfs, sections listing individuals who received credit were titled “zimem.” These records contained detailed information about borrowers, including their names, professions, social status, religious affiliation, and the amount of credit extended, offering a rich dataset on the socio-economic structure of Ottoman society. Sharia court records from the period 1680–1690 for the region and 1710–1715 for Istanbul demonstrate that zimem records encompassed diverse social groups, including military personnel, artisans, women, and non-Muslims.

Zimem Defteri (MÜSİAD)

To circumvent the prohibition of interest and to effectively deploy capital, cash waqfs employed Islamic financial instruments such as mu‘āmala-i şer‘iyye, bay‘ (sale contract), mudāraba (profit-sharing partnership), and karz-ı hasen (interest-free loan). The resulting receivables were recorded in zimem ledgers, enabling the waqf to track its credit portfolio. These records also served functional roles in risk management and portfolio diversification. In examples from Galata and Istanbul, credit was distributed among military groups, artisans, women, and various religious communities, thereby spreading default risk across social groups. This level of diversification is comparable to modern portfolio management practices in banking systems.

Artisan Zimem Ledgers and Social Solidarity Practices

In popular usage, the term zimem defteri referred more commonly to credit ledgers maintained by small shopkeepers such as grocers, greengrocers, and butchers. When cash was unavailable, transactions were recorded in these ledgers and settled at a later date. These ledgers reflected an economic circulation based on trust within the neighborhood.

In Ottoman society, particularly during Ramadan, individuals with means would visit shops in neighborhoods they did not know and request to examine zimem ledgers. They would randomly select pages from the beginning, middle, or end of the ledger and pay off the debts listed on those pages. In some cases, all debts recorded in the ledger were settled at once. The core principle of this practice was confidentiality: the person paying the debt did not know the identity of the debtor, and the debtor did not know who had provided the assistance. This method aimed to preserve the dignity of the recipient while ensuring that the donor remained free from pride or ostentation.

The Role of Women in Zimem and Cash Waqfs

In the Ottoman system of mutual aid, women assumed multifaceted roles. According to Istanbul records from 1710–1715, women constituted approximately 14 percent of borrowers from cash waqfs.^【2】 In Galata’s zimem records, women were also identified as a distinct social group. It has been recorded that the average size of credit extended to women was lower than that given to men—for example, in Istanbul, the average loan for men was 5,578 akçe, while for women it was 1,601 akçe.

Women participated in the system not only as borrowers but also as founders of waqfs. In Galata, several cash waqfs were established by women, and their credit diversification strategies exhibited professional risk management characteristics similar to those of male founders. Moreover, through waqfs, direct services targeting women were provided, including securing dowries for poor girls, covering wedding expenses, and offering social support to mothers. The frequent mention of widows among those whose debts were forgiven during Ramadan highlights the social protection dimension of this practice.

Transformation in the 19th and 20th Centuries

With the establishment of the Evkâf-ı Hümâyûn Nezâreti in 1826, the administration of waqfs was centralized, and waqf accounting and zimem operations came under state supervision. In 1925, the practice of lending liquid assets was prohibited; in 1954, the remaining cash waqf funds and related endowments were transferred as capital to the newly established Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası. These developments marked the end of the classical functioning of cash waqfs.^【3】